VT's liberal southern neighbor is proposing a frightening amendment to its hunting laws. A bill is currently in the house that will extend the easement zone around occupied dwellings from 500' to 1000'. The current zone of 500' relates to an 18 acre parcel that is unhuntable. A 1000' zone expands the nonhuntable parcel to 72 acres, a 4 fold increase! Currently, 60% of Mass falls into the nonhuntable zone, a total of 3.1 million acres. While many of the new proposed zones would overlap, multiplying 3.1 million acres results in 12.4 million unhuntable acres. Massachusetts total area is 6.75 million acres! See what we up against?

There are many arguments that we are making in MA for not passing this law, including wildlife population control, preservation of 2nd amendments, increased deer-vehicle collisions, lyme disease, etc.

However, unless VT hunters want to see a huge increase in MA hunters invading their state to hunt, I suggest firing off a few emails to the politicians listed below. Also, if this bill passes in MA, how much longer till it will be adopted in VT and other states? Listed below is also canned letter that can simply be cut and pasted for your ease. Thank you for all of your support in this matter of preserving our heritage and 2nd amendment right!

It has come to my attention that Kathi-Anne Reinstein (D- Suffolk) has proposed House Bill 657 which would double the current restriction Hunting/Firearm discharge in the Commonwealth state.

As a hunter and outdoorsmen, I feel that this new restriction goes far beyond safety and is in fact creating a more unsafe environment in our Commonwealth. A 500' easement around a dwelling is equal to 18 acres but a 1000' easement is equal to 72 acres of lost huntable terrain. Many of the lands that will become unhuntable are preserves and Wildlife Management Area's that benefit both the hunting and non hunting public, but are funded by hunting licenses and non-profit organizations such as Duck Unlimited & Delta Waterfowl. If passed, Bill 657 will change the face of hunting in MA, and will surely lead to increases in Lyme Disease and automobile fatalities related to deer.

Myself and many of your constituents are adamantly opposed to this bill and what it could mean for our state. I implore you to do all that is within you power to strike this bill down.

Last edited by cut'emalljack on Tue Apr 05, 2011 6:41 am, edited 1 time in total.

Thank you all for your support. I checked most of my goose fields, and they will be off-limits due to urban sprawl!

What do we do now? Go to http://www.voteno-on657.com and "Cast Your Vote". We have united here in Mass and to date have sent over 3,000 emails to the MA legislature voicing our opposition. With more support, we can hopefully kill this bill before it even goes to a vote!

It only takes about 30 seconds to fill out the form. No contact info will be provided to the politicians. We just need a show of force! Thank you very much.